GrainCorp will form a new grain accumulation team and AGA will continue as a wholly owned subsidiary of Cargill Australia under its current name. Both parties agreed that the AGA joint venture had been successful since it was formed seven years ago. The decision by GrainCorp to voluntarily exit the joint venture was driven by the changing nature of the domestic and export grain market following the removal of the bulk wheat export monopoly in July 2008.
The two companies will maintain their milling joint venture, Allied Mills.
According to Reuters, a monopoly over wheat exports held by AWB Ltd was replaced by a system that has seen 23 firms become licensed wheat exporters, including GrainCorp and Cargill as well as AWB.
“Now that GrainCorp and Cargill can export bulk wheat, there was a thinking on both sides that having separate accumulation teams was probably preferable given that, to a greater degree, we are competitors,” said GrainCorp spokesman David Ginns.
Following the announcement, GrainCorp revealed that its chief financial officer, Tony Scott, had resigned and will be leaving on 9 April 2009. Management accounting manager, Gary Haskew, will become acting CFO.
“Tony has made a valuable contribution to the financial management of GrainCorp over his tenure, and we thank him for this,” said GrainCorp MD, Mark Irwin.
Source: GrainCorp, Reuters, AAP
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024